Brits are losing £775m per year by failing to complain to retailers

With 36.5m adult online shoppers in the UK alone, this means Brits are out of pocket to the tune of a massive £777.5m every year.

Consumers also don’t always request a refund for a product if they deem the value to be too low. In fact, the survey found that shoppers in the UK are losing out on more money compared to their counterparts in France and Germany – on average 22 per cent more.

In all the countries surveyed, women were found to be more frugal than men. With male shoppers losing out on 34 per cent more money than that of females.

When asked to list the factors that might stop them from reporting a faulty product to an online retailer, over a third of shoppers stated that most retailers were too difficult to contact.

Over a quarter said they would be discouraged if the retailer had a bad reputation for giving refunds and 17 per cent indicated that they would not follow up if the service was too impersonal.

Furthermore, although UK shoppers were found to be more likely to forgive a poor online experience, it seems that Brits know how to carry a grudge.

The research suggests that “consumers will punish perceived retailer unfairness even if it is ultimately detrimental to do so: for example, consumers have been found to avoid shopping somewhere after a bad experience, even if doing so means they are spending a lot more money elsewhere.”

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